Entire Italy Under Quarantine Due To Coronavirus Until April, PM Takes 'Stronger' Measures

The entire territory of Italy has been placed under quarantine after facing the largest outbreak of coronavirus outside China.

What Happened

The Prime Minister of Italy, Giuseppe Conte, said quarantine measures announced earlier in North Italy will now apply to the entire country from Tuesday morning, reported the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Travel to and from Italy will be restricted to reasons of work or health only. Employees will be encouraged to stay home. Public gatherings are no longer allowed, bars and restaurants will have business hours curtailed to 6 p.m.

In spaces like churches and shops, people must maintain a distance of 1 meter or 3 feet between each other. 

At a press conference, Conte said he had “decided to adopt even stronger, stricter measures to be able to contain the spread of the virus as much as possible.” The restrictions on the movement of people have not been seen in Italy since World War II.

The quarantine measures will apply until April 3. On Monday, the country’s 27 jails saw riots by inmates after visitation rights were suspended due to the epidemic. 

Why It Matters

The Covid-19 virus has ravaged Italy, with 9,172 infections confirmed as of Monday. The number of fatal incidents in the country has risen to 463. This is the highest number of infections outside China, and the number of deaths has exceeded those in China, according to the WSJ.

Meanwhile, Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell by 11.17% at 18,475.91 on Monday in Milan. The European Stoxx 600 Index fell 7.44% at 330.50.